Here you go -- one of my first and favorite arrangements for the Ecco Mandolin Ensemble, Traveller's Prayer by John Renbourn, performed on all L&H Instruments (the dola, cello, and bass from the...
Here you go -- one of my first and favorite arrangements for the Ecco Mandolin Ensemble, Traveller's Prayer by John Renbourn, performed on all L&H Instruments (the dola, cello, and bass from the...
Thanks! This is a renaissance instrument called a Vihuela de mano, or Viola da mano. In this case the second name is perhaps a better fit since this is based on an Italian example. It's essentially a...
1.3 mm? Is that height or width?? What is the width of your fret slots? It's hard to answer your question without more specific information.
Jim's suggestion is one solution, if the wire is...
I had an old Martin mandolin project with bar frets that were worn and needed replaced. I took them out and added some wood material to the bottom of the slots and reinstalled them upside down. I...
If it sounds great and plays great, why change anything?
A few nice nuggets of information from the site Mike linked to, filling in a bit more on the 20s scene in Chicago, particularly JR Stewart:
"The Le Domino model was the brainchild of James R....
Actually, those of us who have worked on a number of 40's through mid 50's Gibson guitars might say "Only a Gibson isn't glued enough."
THe longitudinal (aka parallel) modulus does indeed follow density. However, the cross-grain (aka perpendicular) modulus can be all over the map, and for a variety of reasons. Per Graham...
Interesting to see someone investigating the science of bowlbacks https://brill.com/view/journals/ijwc/2/1-3/article-p1_1.xml
If you look up origin of word art. You'll find someting like this:
The word “art” is derived from the Latin ars, which originally meant “skill” or “craft.” These meanings are still primary in...
I had steeled myself to read a tale of severed digits, painful recovery, and learning to play with four fingers. I was happy to see it's just a crappy headstock!
I've imaged the mandolin body modes both with and without a bridge and strings in place. I found no difference in either mode shapes or modal. frequencies, with only one exception. One mandolin had...
Depends. Is it a Rogue or a Gilchrist?
I wouldn't want the Mando to sleep any colder than me. Will it get lonely and perhaps go with a passing stranger? I've heard they sometimes do that.
Here is my 2 cents worth. (And I’ll probably get in trouble for it.) there is so much cult worship of the Loar era F-5 that imagination is stifled. If it ain’t a F-5 copy to the letter then it isn’t...
Don't look inside any old Gibson scrolls.
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I wasn't sure where to put this since it's not technically a video of me. It's also both lutherie/builder content and a video. Hopefully this is OK.
Here's some pictures of the...
Here are the "old" gouges that I use regularly. I have a few others that I use that are newer, and I have some more old ones that I don't use, but these are the 'antiques' that I find most useful. I...
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Not sure how to do an invisible repair without having access to good-working vintage parts.
I did notice the guitar version of this body style uses a partially routed (not all the way...
Well the good news is the piece that is broken isn't really needed, it will play fine without it. It will also be easier to change strings without it.
I know people are going to lose their stuff over this but If that was mine I'd be using WD-40 on a soft cloth.
Totally off topic, and not mandolin related all, but your dilemma reminded me of this story.
When I was in my 20's we hired a mover to bring our stuff to our new (first!) house. It was summer and...
I have developed a 'laparoscopic' method for applying a cleat across a crack repair with a system that uses access to a nearby soundhole.
For the crack repair itself I created teflon caps for the...
I acquired this via French site Leboncoin - some interesting instruments can appear there but you usually need a French phone number and mailing address.
It needed some attention: raising the...
The action at the 12th fret seems too high imho and perhaps at the nut as well yielding a mandolin that you are struggling to easily play. Can you post a picture of the neck from the side showing the...
Not a Calace. The label is a fake. There is a seller in Italy on ebay that regularly lists such fakes and seems to be getting away with it, having good ebay feedback.